Tropical Luau Macadamia Chicken Salad with Pineapple Vinaigrette

4
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Tropical Macadamia Crusted Chicken on a salad with a Pineapple Jalapeno Vinaigrette and Crispy Wontons. A light summer meal, reminiscent of salads you may eat on a tropical vacation! I promised you on Thursday that there would be a round two to the Macadamia Crusted Chicken recipe and here it is! It is a really easy reinvention, turning the chicken into a salad topper and the salsa into a dressing in about 30 seconds. Mixed greens are topped with fresh chopped pineapple, macadamia nuts, crispy wonton strips and leftover crispy chicken. We re-imagine the salsa into a delicious vinaigrette with the addition of rice vinegar and olive oil. This chicken dish is crusted with macadamia nuts and topped with pineapple jalapeno salsa. Go on a tropical summer vacation in your kitchen! In only 30 minutes!This salad is a tropical escape and even with the addition of the olive oil, this dressing is a light accompaniment to the salad. You can also use grilled chicken in this salad, the rest of the flavors are bright enough that it will still be completely delicious!

This week has been a wonderful one! Yesterday I celebrated my anniversary to the greatest person I have ever met and on Thursday Clinton Kelly from The Chew actually retweeted me. Excuse me while I have a total nerdy moment. I mean, c’mon…how cool is this! If it wasn’t the week of our anniversary, this alone would have made my week.Tropical Luau Salad with Crispy Wontons

Have you ever been on Twitter and had a celebrity moment? This blog is six weeks old and in that time I have been retweeted or favorited by some of the coolest people: Clinton Kelly, Sarah Moulton, Wolfgang Puck (I nearly screamed out loud when this happened) and Emeril Lagasse. Before the blog, I was not quite sold on the concept of Twitter. Seeing the level of interaction I have experienced in such a short period of time, I am now a convert.

The irony of it is I grew up in Los Angeles and have had many interactions with celebrities who aren’t chefs and they’ve never fazed me. A couple of days ago my husband and I were driving in Yountville, CA and drove past French Laundry only to see Chef Thomas Keller in the picture window of the kitchen just a dozen feet away working with his staff. I was in complete and utter shock and just wanted to drive up and down the street to get another glimpse. Being the amazing husband he is, he completely understood why I completely freaked out and actually got excited for me. Isn’t he the best?

I’ve gone off topic, haven’t I? We were here to make a salad! Don’t worry, we will be done with this salad in just a couple of minutes!

Chop up leftover macadamia chicken. Great eaten cold, or you can put in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Put mixed greens in a bowl. Top with pineapple and macadamia nuts. Tropical Luau Salad with Crispy Wontons

To make dressing:
Combine leftover pineapple salsa with rice vinegar, olive oil and cilantro in food processor until smooth. Tropical Luau Salad with Crispy Wontons Finally lets top the salad with the crispy wonton strips. You can buy these pre-made if you would like, but I had just made an easy shortcut ravioli using wonton wrappers so I had extra left over. I cut them into half inch wide strips and fried them in canola oil for about 20 seconds. Then I let them drain and cool on a baking sheet.

Tropical Macadamia Crusted Chicken on a salad with a Pineapple Jalapeno Vinaigrette and Crispy Wontons. A light summer meal, reminiscent of salads you may eat on a tropical vacation!

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Tropical Luau Chicken Salad with Crispy Wontons

This salad is made of the leftovers from my Macadamia Crusted Chicken with Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa and topped with pineapples, macadamia nuts and freshly made crispy wonton strips.
Yield 4
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine Tropical
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • Mixed Greens
  • Leftover Chicken from Macadamia Crusted Chicken
  • Chopped Pineapple , in ½ inch chunks
  • macadamia nuts
  • wonton wrappers
  • oil for frying

Dressing

  • Pineapple Salsa
  • 3 tbsp Rice Vinegar
  • 6 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

  • Put mixed greens in a bowl.
  • Top with pineapple and macadamia nuts.
  • Chop up leftover macadamia chicken. Great eaten cold, or you can put in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

To make dressing:

  • Combine leftover pineapple salsa with rice vinegar, olive oil and cilantro in food processor until smooth.

Notes

Made from Macadamia Crusted Chicken with Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa which was adapted from Clinton Kelly's Chicken Recipe on The Chew

Nutrition

Calories: 306kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 1mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 67IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: chicken salad recipe, salad recipe, Tropical Luau Macadamia Chicken Salad

Tropical Luau Salad with Crispy Wontons

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Macadamia nut covered chicken sounds exactly what I have been craving without knowing! This looks incredible!

  2. Yum, I can see using this with my vegetarian chicken for an absolutely delicious meal. The flavors look fantastic.

  3. Great use of those extra wontons I need to remember that idea! This looks delish, now if you came over and made me some I would provide the wine! 🙂

    1. Haha, I love that! At home, I cook and he cleans. With friends I cook they bring drinks! Works great for everyone!

  4. I have been seeking some new salad recipes. I am loving the fresh flavors incorporated into this one. Especially the nuts. YUM! Pinned & Yummed!

  5. Congrats on the anniversary, the re-tweet and turning one dish into two! I would call that a hat trick! Looks amazing!

  6. I DO love summer salad season, and this one will just fill the bill I think. PLUS I love any salad with surprise crispy bits. Wontons are a clever addition. Kudos!

    1. I love making dressings! When you compare the cost to a good quality one in a grocery store, you’ll never go back!

      1. Oh it is so easy! I usually toss all the ingredients into my mini food processor, it is done in seconds!

  7. If I could get my son and my hubby to like nuts I would be all over this! I LOVE these nuts! The are by far my favorite! Maybe I will make this next time they are out of town! ; )

  8. This salad is totally exploding with delicious flavors – I love the fruity sweetness from the pineapples and the crunch from the wonton wrappers!

    1. Me too! I love fresh wonton strips, I had to stop myself from eating them all as I was making them!